Many professionals and consumers use a vehicle such as a pickup truck, and may use it for multiple jobs that require transport of tools and/or work tables. Transportation, organization and access to tools and tables can be problematic. For example, some users simply place their tools in the truck bed in different containers, and use wood dividers to prevent the containers from sliding around when the vehicle is in motion. To free the truck bed for other purposes requires that all the tools and containers be removed and later put back into the bed. The same is true with stationary bolted in place toolboxes, which are cumbersome and time consuming to remove and reinstall.
Numerous devices and systems have been developed in an attempt to address these problems. Related art references known to the applicant are:
Pearlman U.S. Pat. No. 3,394,666 describes a foldable utility table having a frame for supporting a table top, a plurality of drawer storage compartments opening from opposite ends of the frame and a pair of lateral leg storage compartments on opposite sides of the frame for each housing a pair of folded legs. Each leg is pivotally secured to the frame by a pin and includes a stop member to limit pivotal movement thereof when the leg is downwardly and outwardly extended and magnetic closure means to releasably retain each leg in the extended position.
Ellis U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,704 teaches an integrated accessory group for pickup trucks wherein tool boxes, storage tanks, a cab protecting rack and other accessory units are arranged compactly in the pickup truck body and tied together so that the accessory components will not shift. The arrangement is neat and compact and does not result in a loss of truck bed length or accessibility. Space sometimes wasted fore and aft of wheel wells is utilized to advantage.
Linder U.S. Pat. No. 4,375,306 discloses a cabinet and table unit for a vehicle including an elongated plywood panel which serves as a base member for storage cabinets mounted onto the forward or inner end of the base member. The rearward or outer end portion of such base member functions as a table. A track structure is provided below the base member and supports the unit for sliding movement between a stowed position within the bed space of a pickup or the like and an extended or use position in which the table projects rearwardly from the bed space of the vehicle. The cabinets may include a pair of side cabinets which are hinge connected to a central cabinet, for movement between a storage position in which the side cabinets are in juxtaposition with each other and the central cabinet and are positioned over the table, and a use position in which the side cabinets extend laterally outwardly, in a wing fashion, from the opposite sides of the table and from the access opening for the central cabinet. A fourth cabinet may be provided endwise of the central cabinet at the innermost end portion of the base. Such inner cabinet may include a side door access which is reachable from outside of the vehicle when the unit is in its use position and the side cabinet on that side of the vehicle has been swung inwardly into its position over the table. A support leg may be provided at the rear most end of the table. Such leg may be foldable into a storage position up against the under surface of the table.
Cherry U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,315 teaches a slidable storage container which encompasses most the usable cargo space of a trade van. The shortage container is mounted on an extension track which permits an operator to fully extract the storage container through the open cargo doors so that the storage container is accessible from all sides.
Williams U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,898 describes a pickup-bed secure storage unit with a combination storage unit/auxiliary bed liner assembly adapted for nesting engagement onto the bed of a pickup truck. The storage unit covers the entire open area of the pickup bed, with the space between the auxiliary bed liner and the truck bed being partitioned to provide multiple storage compartments. A top-opening auxiliary storage compartment is formed on each side of the two rear wheel well regions. Two pull-out drawers are received within adjoining central compartments and extend substantially the entire length of the truck bed. The pull-out drawers provide secure storage compartments for tools and equipment, and also serve as work tables. The auxiliary cargo deck liner is supported by interior side panels, a central partition and engagement of saddle/bridge deck portions onto wheel well flanges.
Chudik U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,088 teaches a portable bed assembly for motor vehicles for use on a pickup truck, camper, station wagon or other recreational vehicle includes an elongate framework having a width designed to fit between rear wheel wells on a motor vehicle, and a length which fits snugly within the vehicle when the rear thereof is closed. The portable bed is mounted on rollers which ride on rails mounted on the original deck or bed of the motor vehicle. The framework includes a pair of foldable leg assemblies with one mounted on each end of the portable bed assembly. A locking mechanism maintains the portable bed assembly in mounted position along the rails on the original motor vehicle bed or rear deck. When the locking mechanism is released and the rear of the motor vehicle is opened, or the tailgate is positioned horizontally, the portable bed assembly will roll outwardly of the back of the motor vehicle. The rearmost of the foldable leg assemblies may be unfolded to a vertical position when the portable bed is positioned partially out of the truck deck.
Russell U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,335 discloses a table for use in the bed of a truck, a generally rectangular table approximately the size of the truck bed, and designed to normally repose in the truck bed. This novel table has a forward portion and a rearward portion, and a series of rollers on its underside such that when the truck has been parked, the table can be extended rearwardly to a desired extent from the bed of the truck. In the interests of providing stability to the table, the forward portion of the table can be readily caused to enter into a locking relationship with a rearward portion of the truck bed, such that the table can then serve, by virtue of its relationship to the truck, as a particularly stable means upon which detailed work can be conducted. This new table also has a series of hingedly mounted legs on its underside, which can be selectively utilized to provide ample support for the table when it has been deployed in a position in which it is at least partially extended from the bed of the truck.
Miller et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,239,934 discloses a portable work table for being removably positioned within a storage compartment of a vehicle and includes a frame having an upper wall with a generally planar top surface, side walls extending from the upper wall and a bottom wall extending between the side walls. A plurality of legs are movably mounted on the frame and are movable between a first position such that the legs extend from the bottom surface for being engaged with a support surface such that the frame is positioned above the support surface to permit work to be readily carried out on the top surface and a second position such that the legs are retracted from the first position towards the bottom surface such that the frame is positionable within the storage compartment of the vehicle. A plurality of objects are movably mounted on the frame. A storage device is interconnected between the frame and each of the objects for allowing each object to move with respect to the top surface of the frame between a first position such that the object is positioned within the interior of the frame below the top surface and a second position such that the object is positioned at least partially above the top surface of the frame.
Miller et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,979 teaches a method of removing and/or inserting a portable table from and into a storage compartment of a vehicle which includes a frame having an upper wall with a generally planar top surface, side walls extending from the upper wall and a bottom wall extending between the side walls. A plurality of legs are movably mounted on the frame and are movable between a first position such that the legs extend from the bottom surface for being engaged with a support surface such that the frame is positioned above the support surface to permit work to be readily carried out on the top surface and a second position such that the legs are retracted from the first position towards the bottom surface such that the frame is positionable within the storage compartment of the vehicle. A plurality of objects are movably mounted on the frame. A storage device is interconnected between the frame and each of the objects for allowing each object to move with respect to the top surface of the frame between a first position such that the object is positioned within the interior of the frame below the top surface and a second position such that the object is positioned at least partially above the top surface of the frame.
Lance et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,422,629 describes a vehicle mounted storage unit adapted to be mounted to a floor portion of a vehicle having a sidewall and a wheel well that extends outwardly from the sidewall by a first distance, includes a mounting bracket fixed to the floor portion of the vehicle and a plurality of connecting members that connect the mounting bracket to the floor portion. The mounting bracket has a width that is less than the first distance, and the mounting bracket is fixed to the floor portion of the vehicle at a mounting point adjacent the sidewall of the vehicle and adjacent the wheel well of the vehicle. The storage unit is provided with a cabinet that is attachable to the mounting bracket, with the cabinet being removable from the mounting bracket and having a width not greater than the first distance. The cabinet is adapted to be mounted adjacent the sidewall of the vehicle and adjacent the wheel well of the vehicle, with no portion of the cabinet extending beyond the wheel well of the vehicle. The storage unit is also provided with a quick-release mechanism that facilitates attachment of the cabinet to the mounting bracket and release of the cabinet from the mounting bracket, the quick-release mechanism allowing the cabinet to be mounted to the mounting bracket and removed from the mounting bracket without the use of a tool.
The foregoing patents reflect the current state of the art of which the present inventor is aware. Reference to, and discussion of, these patents is intended to aid in discharging Applicant's acknowledged duty of candor in disclosing information that may be relevant to the examination of claims to the present invention. However, it is respectfully submitted that none of the above-indicated patents disclose, teach, suggest, show, or otherwise render obvious, either singly or when considered in combination, the invention described and claimed herein.